Natural Truth

Conclusions about Reality by William Meyers

Nature is all the exists.

Everything that exists is part of Nature.

Nothing exists outside of Nature.

The past, present, and future are part of nature.

Humans are part of nature. Our minds, consciousness, and imagination
are part of nature. However, we are capable of imagining things
that do not exist, and frequently do so. Things that we imagine
that do not actually exist in nature have no existence; only our
thoughts of them exist.

Nature is very complicated. The human brain evolved to help
us survive within nature; its ability to understand nature is
by no means perfect.

We may not know the full extent of nature. A few centuries
ago humans thought Nature was limited to our solar system. Now
we know that nature is vast, including, at the least, our own
galaxy and the many galaxies visible through telescopes. There
are many particulars of nature we are not aware of yet.

Since Nature is real, it can neither be created from, nor destroyed
by, human thought. Human thought is subordinate to nature.

Human awareness is caught up in time. We are always in present
time. But the past is real, and the future is real or is becoming
real. We know of the past from our memories and from examining
its artifacts.

It follows that since the past is real, events of the past
are real, and those who lived in the past were and are real. While
it may be sad for us when our friends and relatives die, it should
comfort us that their lives were real. There is no need to postulate
a heaven to reward the good or a hell to punish the evil. Life
is its own reward. Let those who are alive and deserve punishment
be punished: nothing needs to be done about the dead.

Religions, like other aspects of human culture, arise out of
Nature, but they generally are mistaken about it. Religious beliefs
sometimes arise out of legitimate mistakes that are misinterpretations
of the complexities of natural reality. Some beliefs arise out
of hope or from wishful thinking. But Religion is usually made
concrete by men who find some advantage over their fellow men
in it. Once instituted, religion can have a powerful effect on
the human mind, since humans are apt to mistake words, especially
words frequently repeated, for reality.

The Evolution of Species over time by mutation and natural
selection is the key truth to our understanding the biology of
nature, and our own nature.

Conscious awareness arises out of nature in the context of
the human nervous system combined with interaction with the natural
world and with human culture. Humans may not be unique in being
consciously self-aware.

Ethics arise out of human culture, which arises itself out
of nature. Religions have made contributions, both positive and
negative, to the development of human ethical systems. The key
to correct ethical precepts lies in accepting ordinary human life
as real. Life is not a test to get into heaven, or to score points
for a better berth through reincarnation. When humans suffer,
they suffer in reality; when they murder, the murders are real;
when they harm, the harm is real; when they do good, the goodness
is real.

The two most basic ethical rules are to treat everyone fairly
and to favor truth over falsehood.